Being successful in sales requires continuous growth and learning from day-to-day experiences. Identifying those buyer's you can actually help by doing great research and keeping detailed prospect notes, it part of that success.

Last week, I wrote a blog that covered the first 3 lessons I learned during my recent RV vacation to Michigan with my wife, Linda. If you missed it, here it is! This week, I review the final sales lessons I took away from our time on the open road.

4. Do your homework! We booked a spot at the Bluff of Manistee. Sounds nice, right? I will not throw them under the bus, but let’s just say that we left after a very brief deliberation about the “concrete jungle”. We immediately started googling and found a spot at Orchard State Beach in Manistee.  

• It makes sense to do some homework before you call on someone, especially when cold calling. You must get a feel for their business, challenges, organizational structure, and find out anything you can about their current business state. This helps you frame your questions so that you sound well-informed about them and their industry. This knowledge and understanding help you more quickly establish credibility.

• Understand that what you think you know might not be true. Not that a company would intentionally lie or be misleading but understand that they are looking to put their best foot forward. So be cautious, ask more questions, and work to validate what you think you know and inquire about what you don’t.

5. Record the adventure when you travel. Take too many pictures. Make too many notes. It will help you remember why things went well or why you might do something different in the future. You will also be able to share that information and help someone else. One thing we learned about every RV’er we met is that they were all willing to share.

• Record your notes in your CRM. Check off steps as you complete them. Any documents you send, make sure you upload them to the prospect's file. Be willing to discuss your opportunities with others so you can learn, and they can learn.

• Go back and look at your notes so that as you progress through the process, you do not have to remember everything. It’s DOCUMENTED! This will free you up to pay closer attention when you are meeting with your prospect.

6. Someone always needs help. The “someone” in this case happened to be the horses at Reality’s Chance in Lake Pleasant Michigan. It’s a wonderful spot: a sanctuary for at-risk horses founded by a wonderful person and run by a group of volunteers that care so much about the work they do. It seems like it would be an endless quest to save all the horses, but helping just one at a time makes a difference to THAT horse.

• There are plenty of people in your marketplace that need help. Not just any help but specialized help. Kind of what Lauren does for Mustangs at Reality’s Chance. You must be the provider of that specialized help.

• To be that specialized resource, you cannot look, act, and sound like everyone else. You must have a different approach, have different conversations, and focus on presidential issues and business solutions instead of your products and services.

A majority of sales people are so happy to get in front of a prospect that they sometimes allow them to control the sales process.

How do you get out in front of this and make sure that you are running the sales conversation? Stop wasting your time with people that don’t meet your criteria.  Failure to do so causes you to not only waste a lot of time, it keeps you from getting to real prospects that need your help.  

A majority of salespeople are so happy to get in front of a prospect that they sometimes allow them to control the sales process.  Whatever question the prospect asks, we answer it.  Whenever the prospect asks for information, we give it to them.  When they want a proposal or quote, we go back to the office and begin to work on it.  

Who’s in charge here?

We didn’t really focus on how qualified they were, just whether or not we could get in front of them and how quickly we can present a solution.

Maybe we should find out if they are really a prospect.

1. You have to find out why they took time to meet with you, the “why am I here?” question.
2. You have to be of the mindset that they have to qualify to do business with you.
3. You have the right to get all the information you need to do the job being asked of you.
4. You have the right to make decisions that are not popular with others, remember don’t walk, talk, look and act like all the other salespeople.
5. Finally, you have the right to walk away from anyone who isn’t a prospect.

Here are 4 things (at a minimum) you need to know in order to have a qualified prospect.

1. Do they have a problem (PAIN) that they are committed to fixing?
2. Do they have the time money and other resources to commit to a solution?
3. Do you know their decision-making process, and have you met with ALL decision makers prior to agreeing to present?
4. Did the prospect agree to a decision, yes or no, when you present your solution?

If you answered yes to all of those, then you have a prospect.

Stop wasting your time with people that don’t meet your criteria.  Failure to do so causes you to not only waste a lot of time, it keeps you from getting to real prospects that need your help.  Remember, no prospect, no problem. 

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